<p>In searching various colleges I found one, that offered a monthly payment plan (no interest) for college expenses...it was managed by a company called Tuition Managment services. We will not qualify for any financial need, and my son may qualify for merit aid (but we know how competitive that can be) so I had been skipping over some colleges where there would be a differential that i assumed would have to be paid in one lump sum. I looked at the TMS website and they state they managed hundreds of colleges, and with google it looks like there are other companies that do the same. What I cant find is which colleges offer this type of payment plan. We probably couldnt come up with thousands up front, but could manage monthly payments. I didnt find that option on the financial aid site of alot of colleges?
Anyone know where I could find the info?</p>
<p>We use Tuition Pay for college and pay monthly for 10 months of the year. We have been doing this since June 2003. 1 1/2 more years!</p>
<p>It is also easier for us to do this monthly than to do a lump sum. There is an adminstrative cost to set this up for each term or year (depends on the school). But we find it good. We use the auto withdrawal option. Mystery money...goes direct deposit into the account and auto withdrawal out of the account. We never see the money.</p>
<p>We use Tuition management for our son and it's easy. There is an administrative cost up-front. We were on a similar plan with our daughter's college at no charge. I don't think that the majority of people have that kind of money to give in a lump sum.</p>
<p>You might call the financial aid department of schools that you're looking at to ask them if they offer this. Our son's school offered this to him at some point in the financial aid process.</p>
<p>but is there a way to find out which colleges offer this service. or is it something you have to ask financial aid at each school? do most schools offer it? if so, i have alot of schools to go back and check LOL</p>
<p>Look in the cashiers or bursars page instead of financial aid. It is under payments not aid since a payment plan is not really considered financial aid. . I Googled the web sites of a couple and found it there..</p>
<p>thanks bceagle and singersmom07! didnt think about cashiers/bursar office. My son will be happy if even a few of the ones i thought were out of the picture offer this!</p>
<p>We also use a monthly plan. At son's school it is called Budget Tuition Plan (BTP), but it is run by school. In August we figured out what expenses would be for each semester and divide it into monthly payments. Money is taken right out of checking account each month. We do receive a reminder a week before. There is a yearly fee, I believe $45.00 to enroll. It has worked well for us.</p>
<p>just checked one school under cashiers office and there it was! one other quick question, can it be used for cost of board etc or only for tuition cost?</p>
<p>It can be used for the total amount you owe the school, so yes, R & B.</p>
<p>If your child lives off campus they would probably be paying rent monthly anyway.</p>
<p>Room, board and all fees. For ours, they total everything, subtract your scholarships and then divide it up.</p>
<p>I use it at my D's school too - the yearly admin cost is $60. There is an expense calculator provided on the site into which you put all expenses and fees and then it divides it up and gives you the monthly payment. You can put whatever down payment in that you want - or none at all. You can do direct debit from a bank account or use a credit card - 2.75% charge for credit card I believe. D's school's plan is administered by FACTS - a company owned by Quikbill. I think it is really common for schools to offer payment plans. They used Tuition Management until this year - I don't know why they changed.</p>
<p>this has made my day!!! my oldest son's school didnt offer it so wasnt aware of this option, and we took out loans for him but just not in the same position anymore. I was feeling so guilty .... that some of the schools this son wanted to consider just would not be possible...now maybe they are.</p>
<p>We used Tuition Management for my D's first year. If I remember correctly, the payment schedule was set up so that the entire obligation was paid by early in the second semester.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting that question, parent56 and for the responses! I didn't know about that either, and was freaking out a little on the possible lump sum amount...</p>
<p>Great info.</p>
<p>We enroll in June or July and are able to select a 10 or 11 month plan, depending on when we enroll. </p>
<p>If I recall correctly, all of the colleges to which both my children applied offer a monthly payment program.</p>
<p>I've used it for several years. You want to sign up fairly early on so you start making payments in June and end in April. That is the most months they offer so that the payments are smaller each month.</p>
<p>We are using it too. Freshman year plan is shorter because it starts in July; later years start in My (so it's pretty continuous after freshman year for us). Admin cost about $50, and no interest!</p>
<p>Nice re: the no interest!</p>
<p>So...it sounds like you should sign up for this almost immediately after your son/daughter accepts...since payments will start being deducted in June before the start of their freshman year?</p>
<p>Edit--Shrinkrap--I wasn't clairvoyant re: the interest, think the server popped my post in before yours. :-)</p>
<p>Yeah, I started in June of my son's freshman year but he was an EA applicant so we knew way ahead of time where he was going and what the costs were.
No interest is great but keep in mind that if you pay by credit card they take a big fee. Last year I used it for tuition, room and board but pay some incidentals by cc since my son's school doesn't charge a fee for cc.</p>